Towzatronics 12V (Cigarette) Power Socket

Originally Posted by Lozzo

Which is fine if you have the correct cabling to go with it. I think you'll find that I never disagreed.

Household heaters and other appliances are regularly rated at over 2Kw without the need for relays and suchlike, in fact a 13A plug can safely handle an appliance rated at 3Kw that draws 12.5A (of which many are freely available at all electrical shops if you had half a clue what you were on about), totally uncalled for. so what's the problem if the bike's socket is installed properly? Besides, you're comparing chalk and cheese - there's no need to use toasters and kettles as an analogy as they are household appliances rated at way above the 120W maximum we're talking about here so obviously have no bearing on the topic in question. Whilst you sir may realise this, many others would not. Get a basic grip of electrics before commenting. It doesn't get any more basic than I posted.

How about you take a look under your bike's seat and see how many 10A fuses there are in the fusebox before spouting off about how risky you think this is. I didn't say anything of the kind. Even the lowly positive switched horn circuit on my bike is fused at 10A without the need for a relay, so I tapped into it to wire up my heated grips with an additional fuse in the grip's wiring. So you added an aditional 4amp (wee letters in case it seems "Nuclear") to the circuit without changing the protective device? Of course, you will NEVER sound the horn whilst the grips are active.

I think there's an awful lot of scaremongering going on in this thread. Just highlighting the usable parameters.

Originally Posted by Lozzo

And I'm saying it's absolutely fine if the wiring is done properly with the correct cable used. Independentphoto capitalising 10AMPS as if it was so dangerous it should carry an international nuclear industry health warning Whit? is simply unnecessary scaremongering. There are loads of circuits on 12V cars and bikes that are fused at 10A with no problems and no need for relays to be installed, they simply have the correctly rated cabling installed. Do you seriously think any reputable manufacturer of accessory sockets would bother to emboss the maximum rated wattage on the lid of their socket if it couldn't safely be installed on a 12V system? If they were that disreputable they wouldn't bother to give a rating at all.

It's time people started to actually use some common sense. Just because the socket is rated at 120W and could theoretically be fused at 10A doesn't mean to say it will ever be asked to perform at anywhere near that maximum. Most will only ever see a charger for a Nokia or Sony phone, some will occasionally be asked to supply power to an airbed pump - no-one mentioned kettles and toasters until Mr Doom and Gloom joined in. It doesn't matter if it is asked to supply an item rated at a massive - and apparently hugely dangerous to Mr D and G - 120W, if the cabling is correct and the right fuse is in place it will be perfectly safe. Indeed, but only UP TO the rated capacity.

The reason that I commented at all was to assist others with possible installations and certainly not to have a dig at Lozzo. Whilst there are numerous posters who understand the necessary level of electical theory to recognise limits etc, there are far more that would run scared as soon as you mention watts, amps or various others. At the same time, supermarkets among others are selling inverters of various sizes to enable the use of "domestic" appliances such as laptops, TVs etc,etc. Many people look upon items such as these as merely "Adapters" to change one plug to another and understand no more than this. Perhaps now you can see why I opted to highlight some limitations.

My "scaremongering" is obviously unhelpful to others and deeply offensive to boot.

With this, I bid you good day.

My whole point on this thread was to highlight the problems with switching, if your unsure, run it direct from battery with an in line fuse, job jobbed.
BTW i binned a 12v kettle recently, it took about 25 mins to boil

For the record - the reason I choose to use the horn circuit is because I very rarely if ever sound the horn. I'm a believer in the old adage that "if you have time to find the horn button and use it, you have time to take action to avoid the incident". About the only time my horn gets used is at MOT time, and I usually have to spend time freeing it off so it works or fit a replacement because it has packed up. The grips are fused at 5A, the same rating of fuse as supplied by Daytona, the manufacturer of the grips. I took the advice of a qualified auto-electrician when I first fitted a pair many years ago, and he suggested taking the seperately fused feed from the horn circuit and I've kept doing so for about 15 years with no problems.

All I saw in Independentphoto's (ffs get a shorter name, it takes forever to type that out) post is alot of scaremongering that made it appear that if you fitted a 12V 120W power socket and used it then you stood a good chance of things going horribly wrong. What wasn't mentioned was the fact that any appliance used via the socket will only draw as much current as it needs, i.e something rated at 120W will pull a maximum of the fully rated 10A, something rated at 60W will only pull a maximum of 5A. No mention was given to cable rating until I brought it up. No mention was given to the fact that plenty of other circuits on any bike are fused at 10A with no problems.

Take a look at an SVs twin 55W/60W headlights, add up the combined main beam and you'll have a figure of 120W, then take a look at the main beam headlight fuse and tell me what it is. Here's a link to Richie's post of an SV650 pointy wiring diagram if you can't get to the garage

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=123330

Note: no relays in either the main beam or low beam headlight circuits, which are both fused at 10A

People posted to this thread asking for advice, they got some advice that was valid, honest and safe. They didn't post to this thread asking for unsubstantiated scare stories with little or no explanation of the whys and wherefores.

Simple fact of the matter is this. You can wire a 12V accessory socket rated at 120W to any bike provided you follow simple rules. Always ensure the cable used is up to the job, i.e. rated at 10A or above for a 120W socket (Halfords sell cable with Amperage rating clearly marked on the reel). Always fuse the socket at the correct rating. If the socket is rated at 60W fit a 5A fuse, if it's rated at 120W fit a 10A fuse. If you can't be doing with the hassle of fitting a relay (pretty much unnecessary anyway if you're wiring it in correctly), wire it directly to the battery - it won't do it any harm as long as nothing is plugged into it draining current while the engine is off and as long as it's fused correctly. If in doubt, get a professional or someone who has a clue to do it for you, and pay them if necessary.

You can use this easy to remember formula to work out what the maximum rating of fuse and minimum rating of cable is required Watts/Volts = Amps for example 120W/12V = 10A.

Hope this clears up any misgivings.

dont fal lout boys. xxxx

Originally Posted by Quiff Wichard

dont fal lout boys. xxxx

No falling out, we were just discussing the different ways to do stuff, all right, just different.
Have you fitted your own yet?

no not yet just ordered it.. from maplins. none in stock near me..

I already have a double socket underneath one for sat nav and one for phone but its under seat .. so this extension I can just plug in and pop it in the top fairing like you and Lozzo and then it is there all the time to just charge me phone easy without removing seat etc and fiddling for little charger end.

Originally Posted by Quiff Wichard

no not yet just ordered it.. from maplins. none in stock near me..

I already have a double socket underneath one for sat nav and one for phone but its under seat .. so this extension I can just plug in and pop it in the top fairing like you and Lozzo and then it is there all the time to just charge me phone easy without removing seat etc and fiddling for little charger end.

Have you thought about putting an optimate flylead on the battery and then adding a corresponding plug or socket to the ends of the socket cables so you can plug/unplug the accessory socket anytime you'd like to use the Optimate? Obviously you'd be limited to the overall wattage of the things you'd be using in the accessory spocket as the plugs and sockets for Optimates aren't rated to carry much current, but they should handle 5 Amps ok, which means any phone charger or satnav charger will be fine.

cheers Lozz I will think about that .

ta

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by Lozzo

Have you thought about putting an optimate flylead on the battery and then adding a corresponding plug or socket to the ends of the socket cables so you can plug/unplug the accessory socket anytime you'd like to use the Optimate? Obviously you'd be limited to the overall wattage of the things you'd be using in the accessory spocket as the plugs and sockets for Optimates aren't rated to carry much current, but they should handle 5 Amps ok, which means any phone charger or satnav charger will be fine.

Hegzackally wot I just done. I bought the optimate cigar lighter adaptor, so I can plug my phone in to that.

But I wired up my Sat nav using one of these male plug kits.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

So I can quickly unplug the sat nav & plug in the cigar lighter to power any gizmos.

I could have adapted my phones charger much cheaper than buying the optimate cigar lighter, but it'll do a multitude of jobs anyway

If you buy the cigar lighter from maplins then get some of these plugs to make quick release connectors.

I've got a spare optimate battery lead (the female one) if you need one?

me confused now.
i think it will be ok the way I am thinking of doin .. then will have a nice neat charger with waterprrof cover on the front top fairing like Lozzo.. and no seat removal to charge phone when camp etc or if nice day can do it in tank bag.. just means i have to carry the phone charger as before it was plugged in under seat but I had to fiddle to find the end.,

I for sure want to put my heated grips to a switch live.. flattenned the battery once with them.. may do the horn one like lozzo suggests.


so is it just neutral to the battery .. and live soldered to the switch live? no inline fuse? and no earth on the frame like the autocom needed? that is in the switch live on the lights (which are auto on with ignition)